Natural Ways to Support Your Body Through an IVF Cycle

Natural Ways to Support Your Body Through an IVF Cycle

What can you do once you begin your IVF cycle to support a successful implantation and pregnancy? This is a major concern for many of our clients preparing for an upcoming IVF, and for good reason. We suggest that women going for IVF take at least 3-6 months prior to beginning medications for the procedure, to prepare their body naturally for pregnancy and to increase their chance of success. So, once a woman begins her medications for IVF, what can she do to continue to support her body while simultaneously increasing her odds of achieving a healthy pregnancy?

The Best Natural Ways to Support the Body During IVF

The following ideas are what you can do during your IVF cycle or when you’re running low on time to prepare.

Prenatal Multivitamin

This would seem like it is a given, but if you are currently not taking a prenatal multivitamin, but rather a preconception multivitamin, it may be time to switch. The month prior to planned pregnancy is a great time to give the body the nutrition it needs for pregnancy. We really love Baby and Me Multivitamin. It is made from 100% whole foods and is gentle on the stomach (important with the emotional stress and nervous tension that often arises during IVF).

Smoothies with Superfoods & Fresh Juices

Smoothies and fresh juices are two great ways to keep you on track with healthy eating and they align with our fertility diet guidelines. They both help provide the body with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.

When it comes to smoothies you can add in superfood supplements to make your smoothies into a meal. We love fertility superfoods, but some superfoods are not safe to combine with fertility medications commonly used during IVF.

Superfoods to add to smoothies –Organic Spirulina is a protein, vitamin rich blue-green algae. Preliminary studies show that supplementation through pregnancy with spirulina may help to prevent preeclampsia.

Another superfood we love is FertiliWhey protein powder from grass-fed, free range cows. Why? It too is an excellent protein source at 16g. per serving. Protein is required for the building of body tissues, including the formation of your baby. Getting enough protein during the first trimester may also help to deter morning sickness.

These two supplements are a great way to boost nutrition levels and are safe to continue throughout your pregnancy.

What to avoid – Royal Jelly, Maca, Shatavari or anything that contains these (ie. FertiliGreens). This is because these have an action on hormones and doctors want a very controlled hormonal environment in order to achieve a positive outcome – pregnancy!

Juicing
Juicing is an excellent way to give the body fresh nutrients from a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, without the pulp, so they are quickly absorbed and utilized by the body. Juicing is a delicious way to greatly boost nutrition levels. To learn how to juice click here…

Cod Liver Oil

Cod liver oil is an abundant source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, namely EPA and DHA. These two acids have been shown to be absolutely critical to proper brain and nervous system development in your baby. Cod liver oil is also an excellent source of fat soluble vitamins D3 and A.

Benefits of cod liver oil supplementation:

Supports healthy mood and behavior – great to help prevent depression and postpartum depression

Supports healthy circulation to the reproductive organs

Aids hormone regulation

Supports cellular health

Important for proper brain, eye, central nervous system and heart development

May help prevent low birth weight and premature birth weight

Aids bone development, immune system function, gene transcription, eye development and cell proliferation – all very important for pregnancy and a healthy baby!

Uterine Calming Herbs for Implantation Support

One aspect of IVF that weighs heavy on a woman’s mind is implantation. Soon you will have a healthy embryo (or more) for transfer, now all that needs to take place for pregnancy to occur is implantation. A calm uterus is going to be more receptive to implantation.

The time leading up to transfer is a great time to focus on your uterus and nervous system. The herbal blend UteriCalm is an excellent way to help calm and prepare the uterus for implantation. This liquid blend contains herbs that not only calm, relax and prepare the uterus for implantation, they work to support the nervous system, so your body will better handle the potential stress, anxiety and worry of the outcome of this procedure. The herbs in this blend have been shown to be supportive of early pregnancy through the first trimester. In addition, none of these herbs has an action on the hormonal system, so they are considered safe in most cases* to use at the same time you are on medications for IVF.

Acupuncture

If you haven’t been receiving this natural treatment regularly, it would be a good time to book an appointment with your local acupuncturist. Several studies show that acupuncture can increase the likelihood of pregnancy in patients going for IVF.

We have some articles that cover this extensively, with great details on the best times to get the acupuncture treatments done…

How to Manage the Side Effects of Treatment

Don’t Forget Your Mind, Body and Spirit

Your mental and emotional state is very important to take care of during this sensitive and often stressful time. We have some mind and body practices that we feel are very effective at keeping you positive and focused on a successful outcome – a healthy pregnancy!

Circle and Bloom – they have an excellent IVF preparation guide meditation/visualization program!

Very Gentle Liver Support

During the IVF cycle you may be taking a variety of hormonal medications which can be taxing on the liver. We find that very gentle herbal liver support with Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) is a great way to support and protect your liver throughout this procedure.

Dandelion root liquid extract (tincture) or decoction daily is a great way to gently support liver health, without altering how the body utilizes the medications you are taking. Dandelion is also a bitter herb; stimulating digestion, which will help your body digest and utilize the foods you are eating!

Dandelion root decoction: 2-8 grams dried root simmered over low heat in a cup of water for 15-20 minutes. Strain and drink one cup, 3 times a day.

A great resource for dried herbs is Mountain Rose Herbs.

Dandelion Tincture: In general 30 drops in a small cup of water, 3 times a day.

Great resources for Dandelion tincture are Elk Mountain Herbs or Herb Pharm.

8 Ways to Support Your Body Through IVF

Here is a quick guide to what you can do to support your body through your IVF procedure…

It will be best to discuss continuing barley grass juice powder and the fermented Cod Liver Oil with your healthcare provider. In general a prenatal multivitamin and ginger and cinnamon in moderation in food are fine.

Hi. I am 42 years old and ttc for the past 5 years. I have had 2 miscarriages, at the age of 37 and 38. I had 2 IUIs, without success. I am now seeing another fertility specialist with a view to IVF. A scan showed that I have a small fibroid about the size of a pea. I am going for surgery to have this removed in a few weeks time. After I have healed from this I will be starting the IVF medications. Im also doing acupuncture and taking hormone regulating meds and chinese meds prescribed by the acupuncturist. What advice can you give me to help the IVF process be successful? I am not sure where to start. Please help. I live in South Africa and most of the meds are not available here.

Given you are already supporting your fertility health in many ways, it may just be best to stick with your program and the therapists that know your needs well. More is not better and I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.

Thank you for this wealth of information. This website has been my “go to” throughout my fertility journey. What is your opinion on wheatgrass shots during a stimulated IUI cycle? I wonder if its okay to continue taking two ounces a day along with my 300IU of Follistim each night?
Also, do you think it is okay to continue drinking my TCM (herbs) tea with my medication? My acupuncturist highly recommends it and says it will only support what the Drs are doing. Thanks for your reply!

Thank you for your kind words. We are happy to have been your “go-to” site!

We suggest using herbs and fertility superfoods like wheatgrass preconception and during pregnancy preparation. There are only a very few supplements we can suggest during IUI or IVF – a whole food multivitamin, quality omega supplement, FertiliWhey protein powder, spirulina and vitamin/mineral/nutrient supplements approved by your healthcare practitioner.

If you are currently already on fertility medications or undergoing a procedure you should not combine herbs with your medications. Herbs that act on the hormonal system could affect how your medications are working. It is best to only use herbs in preparation beforehand and not mix the two. This being said, I am not an acupuncturist and do not know the TCM herbs you are taking, so I can not know if these can be continued. Please talk to your acupuncturist in detail about your concerns and consult your healthcare provider.

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Disclaimer: The information on Natural Fertility Info.com is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prevent any disease. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Hethir Rodriguez and her community. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using this product.